Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what actions local authorities are taking in respect of the provision of education for the children of asylum seekers.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not collected centrally, although we recognise the positive and high quality work already being done by local authorities to respond to the particular educational needs of the children of asylum seekers. One of the purposes for which the Scottish Executive set up the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum was to share good practice in relation to the provision of education for the children of asylum seekers and refugees.

Asylum Seekers

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32773 by Ms Margaret Curran on 7 January 2003, whether it has any plans to consult on the education provision at accommodation centres for children of asylum seekers once it has been consulted by the Home Office and what the timetable for both consultations will be.

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive expects to be consulted by the Home Office if and when the Home Office identifies an accommodation centre site in Scotland. Any decision to consult on the education provision would only be made after those discussions with the Home Office.

Asylum Seekers

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had, and with whom, regarding children of asylum seekers being educated in Dungavel House immigration removal centre.

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive has had discussions on a range of matters relating to education within Dungavel with representatives of the Scotland Office, the Home Office, South Lanarkshire Council and HM Inspectorate of Education.

Asylum Seekers

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations have been made to it by educational and church organisations regarding concerns about the children of asylum seekers being separated from their peers who will continue to be educated in the mainstream local authority education system.

Cathy Jamieson: I have received correspondence from the Church of Scotland Education Committee and the Catholic Education Commission. I have also recently met with these organisations.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20100 by Malcolm Chisholm on 8 January 2002, when the results of the randomised controlled trial to evaluate a specialist nurse-led model of early discharge from hospital following axillary clearance surgery for breast cancer, which ended in December 2002, will be published.

Malcolm Chisholm: The report on the trial is expected to be received by the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) by 31 March 2003. Thereafter, the report will be considered by CSO’s Health Services Research Committee at its meeting in May. If it is considered satisfactory, an executive summary of the report will be made available on CSO’s website at: www.show.scot.nhs.uk/cso/ .

Children in Care

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to reassess present care systems and services for looked after children, in the light of the Report from the Working Group on the Throughcare and Aftercare of Looked After Children in Scotland and the results of the Who Cares? Scotland questionnaire in respect of the timing of young people leaving care and the impact on academic attainment.

Cathy Jamieson: We are committed to improving services to young people leaving care and improving the educational attainment of looked after children. We are considering the responses to our consultation on the report of the Throughcare and Aftercare Working Group and we have been working with the group and local authority lead implementation officers to plan for implementation of the recommendations and to identify areas in which services can be improved. We are also developing materials to assess the young peoples needs, and plan support for the transition from care to independent living.

Culture

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what success it had in respect of celebrating 2002 as the year of Robert Burns and what financial or other support it made available to events held in connection with this celebration.

Dr Elaine Murray: The Executive’s support for promoting the legacy of Robert Burns has involved various initiatives and is not limited to a single year. Ministers announced early in 2002 the commitment of £300,000 to develop a raft of projects to celebrate the life and works of Burns. These projects will benefit socially disadvantaged areas and under-represented groups and are being implemented this year and next through the Scottish Arts Council. In April 2002, a Tam O’ Shanter CD funded by the National Grid for Learning was issued free to all primary and secondary schools in Scotland. The Executive also provided £100,000 for the inaugural "Burns and a’ that" festival in 2002. The festival received much critical acclaim and, last month, Mike Watson announced that the Executive will provide a further £100,000 for this year's event. Valuable support from our agencies, VisitScotland and the Scottish Arts Council, has also been provided and this continues.

Drug Misuse

Mr Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of cocaine by young people has increased over the last five years and what links there are between crime and (a) cocaine and (b) crack cocaine use.

Hugh Henry: A Working Group of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse published a report in August 2002 on psychostimulant use in Scotland, particularly cocaine, crack cocaine and amphetamines. The report, which can be accessed on the national drugs website at http:// www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org highlighted a small, but growing, problem of cocaine and crack cocaine use in Scotland.

  Table 1 details the number and quantity of seizures of cocaine and crack cocaine in Scotland from 1995 to 2000, the latest year where published data is available.

  Table 2 details the percentage of new individual patients/clients who reported using cocaine and crack cocaine in Scotland from 1997-98 to 2001-02.

  There is some evidence of the link between cocaine and crack cocaine use and crime. In particular, the use of crack cocaine is associated with both acquisitive and violent crime. Typical crimes committed by crack users are shoplifting and handling stolen goods. In addition, cocaine and crack cocaine have strong links to the sex trade.

  Table 1: Drug Seizures of Cocaine and Crack Cocaine

  


Number of Seizures 
  

Scotland 
  



1995 
  

1996 
  

1997 
  

1998 
  

1999 
  

2000 
  



Cocaine 
  

69 
  

117 
  

191 
  

254 
  

334 
  

396 
  



Crack Cocaine 
  

1 
  

2 
  

3 
  

18 
  

34 
  

34 
  



Quantity of Seizures (kg) 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 



Cocaine 
  

0.8 
  

2.4 
  

4.6 
  

27.4 
  

33.4 
  

22.4 
  



Crack Cocaine 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

0.4 
  

0.4 
  

0.2 
  



  Source: Home Office.

  Table 2: Percentage of New Individual Patients/Clients who Reported Using Cocaine and Crack Cocaine

  

 

Scotland 
  



1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

2001-02 
  



No. of Individuals Reporting Illicit Drug Use 
  

7,637 
  
 

9,269 
  

9,490 
  

9,629 
  



% Reporting Use of Cocaine 
  

2 
  

3 
  

5 
  

6 
  

7 
  



  Source: Scottish Drug Misuse Database.

  Notes:

  Seizures

  1. Information on seizures of drugs controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is published annually by the Home Office in a range of bulletins under the general title "Statistics of drug seizures and offenders dealt with".

  2. Statistics on seizures cover seizures made during the year by police and by officials of HM Customs and Excise and other bodies. Seizures involving more than one drug are counted as a single seizure in the total number of seizures, but are counted separately against each individual drug or drug class involved.

  Scottish Drug Misuse Database

  3. The Database collects anonymous information about new problem drug users presenting at a broad range of drug services across Scotland, including general practices.

  4. It is emphasised the information held on the Scottish Drug Misuse Database relates to new patients/clients. The definition of new is (a) the person is attending the particular service for the first time ever, or (b) the person has attended before but not within the previous six months. Thus, the statistics do not reflect the total number of drug misusers seen by services during any period. A study is presently under way on the feasibility of re-reporting individuals to the database at regular intervals. If re-reporting is implemented successfully, the database will provide a better source of information on the total number of people receiving treatment.

  5. All figures in the table exclude penal establishment inmates and information received from needle exchanges.

  6. More detailed information is published in the ISD Scotland publication Drug Misuse in Scotland 2001 which is available on the National Drug Misuse website.

Drug Misuse

Mr Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many recorded convictions there have been for trafficking in cocaine in each of the last five years.

Hugh Henry: It is not possible to answer this question directly. However, such information as is available is given in the table. Figures for 2001 and 2002 are not yet available.

  The figures provided on the total number of persons with a charge proved for the drug offences of supply and trafficking are derived from the Scottish Executive Justice Department’s court proceedings database. This database does not hold information on the type of drug involved in convictions for drug offences.

  The Home Office collects data separately on drug offenders, including information on the type of drug involved in court convictions and fiscal fines. The coverage of this data is known to be incomplete. For example, the Home Office data are currently estimated to cover about 91% of Scottish convictions for total drug offences in 2000. However, it is possible to make use of this information to estimate the proportion of convictions involving different types of drug.

  Persons with a Charge Proved, Where the Main Crime was Supply/Trafficking Drug Offences, 1996-2000

  

 

1996 
  

1997 
  

1998 
  

1999 
  

2000 
  

2001 
  



Supply and Trafficking 
  

1,549 
  

1,621 
  

1,627 
  

1,559 
  

1,284 
  

1,314 
  



Percentage Cocaine1


2 
  

2 
  

2 
  

4 
  

5 
  

N/A 
  



  Note:

  1. Estimated from Home Office data. Figures are provisional.

Drug Misuse

Mr Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is available to cocaine and crack cocaine addicts.

Hugh Henry: Advice on the support which should be made available to cocaine and crack cocaine users seeking help with their addiction was published by the Executive’s Effective Interventions Unit in October 2002, following a report by a Working Group of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse. The report, which is available on the national drugs website at http:// www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org highlighted a small but growing problem of cocaine and crack cocaine use in Scotland and made a wide range of recommendations covering prevention, the planning and delivery of services, treatment, research and information, availability and resourcing. The recommendations are currently being implemented by the Executive.

  Drug Action Teams (DATs) and their local partners should be assessing need and enhancing service provision in line with the guidance, funded from the substantial additional drug treatment and rehabilitation resources allocated to NHS boards and local authorities for the period 2001-02 to 2003-04. DATs will be requested to detail in this year’s corporate action plans, what work has been undertaken or planned to ensure the needs of cocaine and crack cocaine users in their areas are being met.

  In addition, the Executive has committed funding of £100,000 per annum over the following two financial years for a pilot service for cocaine and crack cocaine users in the Aberdeen area, where a particular problem has been identified. Officials are currently working with the local DAT and local agencies on the details of the pilot service, which it is hoped will become operational before the end of this financial year.

  We are working on new information materials on cocaine and crack, but anyone seeking advice on these drugs can contact the free and confidential Know the Score Informationline, or they can log on to the Know the Score website http://www.knowthescore.info.

Drug Misuse

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) registered addicts, (b) seizures, (c) crimes, (d) arrests, (e) convictions and (f) deaths in relation to illegal drug supply and use there have been in each of the last four years, broken down by drug, and what the cost of drug-related crime has been.

Hugh Henry: The term "registered addict" is no longer used. Research commissioned by the Executive concluded that there were around 56,000 people in Scotland misusing opiates and benzodiazepines in 2000. A similar study will be undertaken this year.

  Information on drug seizures, drug-related offences, convictions for drug-related offences, and drug-related deaths can be obtained from the Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2002 which were published electronically by the Information and Statistics Division on 31 January. The statistics can be accessed at www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org. Criminal statistics cover recorded crimes, rather than the numbers of people arrested, and breakdowns by drug type are not available for every category requested.

  There is no comprehensive information on the costs of drug-related crime in Scotland which, for example, includes estimates of social and economic costs beyond the public sector. However, a Scottish Executive Policy Unit review in 2000 provided a broad estimate that aggregate expenditure by public sector organisations in Scotland (including enforcement activities, court proceedings, health and social care, support for families and children) is over £330 million per annum.

Education

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why there has been a delay in informing the board of management at St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane about the level of its annual recurring grant.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive indicated last October that it would be willing to re-examine the calculation of the current year’s annual recurrent grant in the light of any further information that the school wished to supply. This reassessment has now been completed and the revised grant confirmed.

Education

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Education and Young People has any plans to visit St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane in order to meet teachers and parents to discuss the future funding of the school.

Nicol Stephen: The funding of the school from 1 April 2003 will be in accordance with Stirling Council’s funding and devolved school management policies. The Minister for Education and Young People has no current plans to visit the school.

Education

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider postponing the arrangements for transferring St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane to full local authority control until the end of the financial year on 31 March 2003.

Nicol Stephen: We decided last December to postpone the transfer date until 1 April 2003. The board of management was notified of this decision on 10 December.

Education

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guarantees it can give regarding the future funding of St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane.

Nicol Stephen: The future funding of the school will, as with all other local authority schools in the area, be a matter for Stirling Council.

Education

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that current teacher to pupil ratios at St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane are maintained in future years.

Nicol Stephen: The teacher to pupil ratios will, as with all local authority schools in the area, be a matter for the school and for Stirling Council.

Education

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding will be made available to St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane for the period 6 January to 31 March 2003 and when the school’s board of management will be informed of this funding level.

Nicol Stephen: Over the period specified, the school will be paid the last three monthly payments of the annual recurrent grant for the financial year 2002-03 and the balance of any other funds due.

Education

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Stirling Council regarding the funding of St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane and what guidance it has provided to the council about the future funding of the school

Nicol Stephen: The Executive has had discussions with Stirling Council each year regarding the school’s annual recurrent grant. The Executive has not provided any formal guidance to the council regarding the future funding of the school.

Education

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the level of spending per pupil to be provided by Stirling Council for St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane for 2003-04 is satisfactory.

Nicol Stephen: The level of spending per pupil to be provided by Stirling Council in any of its local authority funded schools would be a matter for the council.

Education

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32995 by Nicol Stephen on 22 January 2003, which of its "areas" have issued written guidance, guidelines and official circulars that are still operational in respect of pre-school centres, primary schools, secondary schools, special schools and tertiary education institutes.

Nicol Stephen: Such material has been issued principally, but not exclusively, by the Scottish Executive Education Department and the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department, and, prior to 1999, by their predecessor Departments in the former Scottish Office.

Emergency Planning

Angus MacKay (Edinburgh South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been made available on the decontamination of people exposed to chemical, biological and radioactive substances.

Mr Jim Wallace: In the light of the events of 11 September 2001, the Scottish Emergencies Co-ordinating Committee commissioned the preparation of guidance on how to deal with incidents involving such substances. The guidance, entitled Guidance for the Emergency Services on Decontamination of People Exposed to Hazardous Chemical, Biological or Radioactive Substances , is being placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26273) and on the Scottish Executive website today. The guidance is complementary to advice on this subject being published by the Home Office.

Employment

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives other than the central heating engineering conversion programme are being undertaken to support redundant workers at Clyde shipyards.

Iain Gray: Redundant employees can retrain using the Training for Work Programme, which provides short or long-term training for up to one year. Under the programme 28 redundant BAE workers are being funded to undertake short-term training as fork lift truck drivers, bus drivers, crane drivers, welders and scaffolding erectors.

Employment

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed in the construction industry under the (a) New Deal only and (b) modern apprenticeship scheme only.

Iain Gray: There are around 5,500 modern apprentices training towards Construction Industry Training Board MA frameworks.

  The data on New Deal cannot be provided, as Jobcentre Plus does not gather information on specific occupations entered by clients on New Deal programmes.

European Funding

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) European Regional Development Fund and (b) European Social Fund funding has been (i) applied for and (ii) received by each further education college in each year since 1999 and whether it will give details of any funds still to be remitted.

Peter Peacock: The volume of information requested is large and detailed. I have therefore arranged for the information in table form to be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26178). The table shows the value of correctly completed claims received by the Scottish Executive from each further education college, the value of those paid and the amount outstanding in each year of the 2000-06 Structural Funds Programme period.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government with regard to funding a compensation scheme for the Scottish fishing industry.

Ross Finnie: Following the outcome of the December Fisheries Council, I and officials have had numerous discussions with our Whitehall counterparts about support measures for the industry. We, along with industry representatives, met the Prime Minister on 28 January to discuss issues related to the industry. I announced on the same day a £50 million package of measures to assist the sector.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the European Commission with regard to funding a compensation scheme for the Scottish fishing industry.

Ross Finnie: The question of any compensation arrangements for industry is a matter, in the first instance, for the Executive. I announced the planned £50 million package of measures on 28 January. Officials will be pursuing with the European Commission any necessary matters, such as the need for EC State Aid approvals for the assistance proposed.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what sources of funding are available to fishing communities from the commission; what discussions it has had with the European Commission in respect of each such funding source, and what its position is on whether each such funding source should be pursued.

Ross Finnie: Funding to Scottish fishing communities is available through both European Structural Funds Programmes and other Community Initiatives. For individual communities the availability of funding is determined by the geographic coverage of programmes and initiatives and the specific measures targeted within each.

  Discussions with the Commission establish and set the total funding available to Scotland for each Structural Fund Programme. On-going discussions with the Commission as part of the monitoring process will assess whether any re-prioritisation of funding between measures is required and also to establish whether co-operation between programmes is required to target aid towards specific communities.

Further Education

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements have been made for public accountability when further education colleges amalgamate.

Iain Gray: In general, the Boards of Management of further education colleges are accountable to the Scottish ministers through powers delegated to the Scottish Further Education Funding Council in the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992.

  Where there is a proposal to merge two or more colleges, ministers are obliged to consult the relevant education authority and any other person appearing to ministers to be affected by the proposal.

Further Education

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is its policy that senior posts in new college structures following amalgamation of further education colleges should be the subject of open advertisement.

Iain Gray: Employment issues within further education colleges, which are autonomous bodies in terms of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, are for the colleges themselves to address.

Health Statistics

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31744 by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 November 2002, how the mortality rates per 100,000 population from coronary heart disease in the Renfrewshire Council area compare with the Scottish average in each year from 1996 to 2001.

Malcolm Chisholm: Mortality Rates per 100,000 population from coronary heart disease in the Renfrewshire Council Area and Scotland, 1996-2001:

  

 

Crude Rate per 100,000 Population 
  



Renfrewshire Council 
  

Scotland 
  



1996 
  

282.8 
  

285.7 
  



1997 
  

272.1 
  

273.6 
  



1998 
  

257.0 
  

262.1 
  



1999 
  

286.1 
  

260.5 
  



2000 
  

254.6 
  

245.4 
  



2001 
  

242.4 
  

235.4 
  



  Source: General Register Office for Scotland.

  Notes:

  1. Rates are calculated using the Registrar General’s annual mid-year estimates of population which are being revised following the 2001 Census results. The figures for 2000 and 2001 use provisional revisions that have already been made on this basis. Revisions covering 1982-2000 will be made by the end of February 2003, so the rates given here will be subject to revision after this time.

  2. The rates given here are not age-sex standardised and hence do not take into account the age-sex mix of the two populations.

Hospitals

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to address hospital accommodation for doctors, in the light of the recent Hospital Doctor survey reporting that 76% of doctors believe that their living arrangements are "poor" or "very poor".

Malcolm Chisholm: The New Deal for Junior Doctors in Scotland sets out standards on living and working conditions for hospital doctors in training. The Scottish Executive issued guidance to trusts on implementing this guidance in June 2001 in HDL(2001)50.

  It is the responsibility of each trust to work towards meeting these accommodation standards.

  The New Deal Implementation Support Group are working with trusts to help them implement these changes by providing advice and guidance.

Justice

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why there is a difference in approach to the breaching of a bail condition, which is automatically a matter for the courts, and the breaching of an electronic tagging order, which is not.

Hugh Henry: Unlike breach of a bail condition, breach of a restriction of liberty order is not an offence. Breach of a restriction of liberty order is a matter for the courts under section 245F of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 and are reported to the court by the contractor appointed to monitor compliance with the order. The court decides what action should be taken based on the circumstances surrounding the breach.

NHS Pay

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether issues of equal pay for work of equal value in the NHS have been fully addressed in Agenda for Change – Modernising the NHS Pay System .

Malcolm Chisholm: If accepted, the new Agenda for Change pay system provides for an agreed job evaluation methodology which has been developed in partnership with health care trades unions specifically to address these issues.

NHS Pay

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what alterations were made to pay structures in the NHS as a result of its action under Agenda for Change – Modernising the NHS Pay System .

Malcolm Chisholm: None. The proposals for modernising the NHS pay system are currently the subject of consultation with NHS Scotland staff. If agreed, it is proposed that the new pay system will be implemented nationally in October 2004.

NHS Services

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many services in the Grampian NHS Board area have been transferred from local hospitals to centralised services in Aberdeen or Inverness; what reduction in expenditure this process has realised, and what assistance is being offered to patients that need to travel to centralised facilities.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally. These are matters for NHS Grampian.

NHS Staff

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS staff members have been called up in anticipation of military action against Iraq, broken down by NHS board area and profession.

Malcolm Chisholm: As at 24 January, 24 members of staff, covering a variety of specialties, have been called up across Scotland. This is out of a total of more than 138,000 staff (115,000 Whole-Time Equivalent).

NHS Staff

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to address any impact on service provision in the NHS of the call-up of reservists in anticipation of military action against Iraq.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS Scotland has contingency plans in place to minimise the effect of staff shortages in hospitals, however they are caused. It is expected that they will be able to cope with this requirement as part of normal operational adjustments for staff absences, without affecting services in general.

  Experience from other military deployments has indicated that the mobilisation of individual reserves will not have a significant effect on the NHS in Scotland.

Rail Network

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32813 by Iain Gray on 17 January 2003, on what dates its study of rail links to Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, the Clyde Corridor Transportation Study and the Braehead Fixed Links study by the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive will report.

Iain Gray: The consultants’ report on rail links to Glasgow and Edinburgh airports is expected this month. I understand that an interim report from the Clyde Corridor Transportation study will be available shortly, and that the Braehead Fixed links study will report to the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority at its meeting of 7 February.

Schools

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken to improve the school estate.

Cathy Jamieson: I am today publishing Building Our Future: Scotland’s School Estate – a joint Scottish Executive and COSLA strategy – which meets a Programme for Government commitment to develop a comprehensive school estate strategy in partnership with local authorities that was announced at Balfron High School in October 2001.

  This document was prepared by a working group of representatives from the Scottish Executive and local authorities, with expertise in education, local and central government finance, buildings and schools management.

  The strategy sets out a vision and objectives to achieve improvements in the school estate over the long term. Central to this process will be the development of school estate management plans by local authorities which set out realistic and prioritised options for improving the school estate.

  The document will be distributed widely to stakeholders and will be available on the Scottish Executive website. Copies have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26182).

Vaccines

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether thimerosal in vaccines can damage the nervous system, kidneys, joints and general development of children.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Committee on Safety of Medicines has advised that, with the exception of hypersensitivity reactions, which typically include skin rashes or local swelling at the site of the injection, there is no evidence of harm from the levels of thiomersal contained in vaccines. That view is shared by the World Health Organisation and by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the Executive on immunisation policy.

Waste Management

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what awards under the Strategic Waste Fund have been made to each local authority since the fund was established.

Ross Finnie: Argyll and Bute Council was awarded funding from the Strategic Waste Fund (SWF) of £1.1 million in 2001-02 and £1.65 million per annum for 2002-03 to 2026 to support the council’s Public Private Partnership integrated waste management project.

  I have this week awarded funding totalling almost £110 million from the Strategic Waste Fund has been announced for eight councils to radically improve recycling and waste management.

  1. A total of £45 million is awarded jointly to the Forth Valley group over the next 17 years, £31.3 million to Stirling Council, £5.7 million to Clackmannanshire Council, £8 million to Falkirk Council. This will enable the councils to implement their joint integrated waste management system.

  2. A total of £62 million is awarded to Aberdeenshire Council over the next 17 years. This will enable the council to implement its plan to manage the municipal solid waste generated in Aberdeenshire.

  3. A total of £2,442,300 is awarded to four other councils in the present financial year to allow them to begin implementing integrated waste plans. Further assessments are being undertaken to consider longer term aspects of these councils’ plans. The allocation of funds is as follows:

  Aberdeenshire Council - £700,000 to undertake improvements to current composting facilities, build additional municipal refuse collection banks and start an education and information programme.

  Stirling Council - £167,000 to start the staged implementation of its composting scheme.

  Clackmannanshire Council - £105,000 to upgrade its Civic Amenity Sites and to provide extra staffing as well as to undertake improvements in their composting facilities.

  Falkirk Council - £35,000 to undertake improvements in its composting facilities with an additional £70,000 being awarded to Falkirk Council, on behalf of the Forth Valley group, for a joint education and awareness programme.

  West Lothian Council - £1,286,650 to purchase new wheelie bins for separate household collection of materials for recycling and composting and to set up a telephone hotline to support the introduction of these new services. The council will also undertake work on improvements to civic amenity sites and an education and awareness programme.

  North Lanarkshire - £355,650 to start the staged implementation of a kerbside collection scheme for recycled materials.

  South Lanarkshire - £380,000 to develop land for a new Recycling Facility.

  East Renfrewshire - £420,000 to purchase two new recycling collection vehicles, new recycling bins and to upgrade a civic amenity site.

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33265 on 29 January 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Water Industry

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has reached any decisions on the legislative framework for the water industry needed to address the possibility of competition on the public water and sewerage networks.

Ross Finnie: The Executive has concluded that competition on the public water and sewerage networks would have to be restricted if our public health, environment protection and social objectives for the water industry were to continue to be safeguarded.

  Legislation to provide for this will be a matter for the next Administration in the next Parliament.

  The purpose of any legislation would be to protect public health and the environment by prohibiting common carriage on the public networks and ensuring that Scottish Water alone was able to add treated drinking water to and draw wastewater from the public networks. It would safeguard social objectives by prohibiting anyone other than Scottish Water from retailing water services to households on the public networks. This would mean that domestic water charges could continue to reflect customers' ability to pay by retaining the link between domestic charges and the banding and discount arrangements of the council tax system.

  Any legislation would also ensure that business customers on the public networks could benefit from the introduction of choice in the provision of retail services, while ensuring that they continue to pay a fair share of the costs of the networks, by introducing a licensing regime for non-domestic retail services.

Water Supply

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is currently being taken by Scottish Water to reduce the level of lead content in water supplies.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for Scottish Water. I have asked Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:

  Through regular sampling of drinking water supplies, Scottish Water identifies areas where water is picking up lead from old plumbing and treats the water so it is not absorbing so much lead. When renewing old water mains, Scottish Water replaces the part of any of their lead service pipes that have been uncovered. They advise customers about lead in private pipework and steps that can be taken to reduce any risk. When a customer replaces their private lead pipes, Scottish Water also removes any lead pipes that are their responsibility. In addition, Scottish Water is working closely with the Scottish Executive to develop a long-term strategy to reduce lead in drinking water supplies.

Water Supply

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any areas are free of lead pipes or lead solder on pipes in the domestic water supply system.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for Scottish Water. I have asked Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:

  There are areas of Scotland where there are no lead pipes on the public water supply network, although there may still be lead in customers’ private service pipes and plumbing.